HEALTHY TRAILS

Last week, I wrote about combining our love of the outdoors with our love and appreciation for food, and that the best way to do that was by choosing foods that would most efficiently fuel us.

Carbohydrates are important, but keep in mind that fat, fiber and protein are important at mealtimes, including snacks, because they will help make you feel satiated … and the last thing you want is to be constantly hungry while you should be enjoying the scenery and fresh air, and the conversation as you fall in step with a friend you are hiking with.

Meals on the trail

While commercially available dehydrated meals provide a convenient solution, they usually deliver way too much sodium and an overload of poorer quality calories, like simple sugars (white rice or pasta), and are expensive.

Although a bit more work, it is not complicated to put your own meals together for an overnight backpacking or floating trip.

Chili, gumbo and thick stews to which you can add a high-quality grain, like quinoa, barley or brown rice, are easy to dehydrate and can be easily rehydrated.

Properly dehydrated and stored in airtight packaging, these will keep for a month or two (but refer to dehydration guides and use your judgment as preservation rates vary depending on what ingredients you are using and the extent of your dehydration).

Your homemade dehydrated food can be rehydrated in freezer bags when you get to camp, or in a pot (more about cookware below). Kitchen dehydrators are not overly expensive, although your regular oven can also work well for different items.

Foodborne illness is a real concern, so carrying perishable food in the spring and summer is not a realistic option. Fortunately, the beauty of the Ozarks is best experienced in the late fall and winter, where foliage does not block views of the spectacular bluffs and when bugs and poison ivy won’t interfere with your outdoor enjoyment.

It’s also the best time to experience home-cooked food that does not take much effort and requires only a bit of imagination, foil and plastic storage bags.

Be careful on those tricky winter days that get “warm” —temperatures exceeding 40 degrees will make your food susceptible to bacteria growth that can cause food-borne illness.

On days when the temperature may climb for any significant amount of time, choose to freeze or partially freeze food. (All of the foods mentioned below can easily be frozen.)

Below are some additional suggestions for cold weather hiking:

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Bake chicken pieces however you like them, then tear up the chicken to add to raw vegetable spears like onions, peppers and mushrooms marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper and a bit of lemon juice. Cocoon the meat and veggies in a piece of foil rubbed with olive oil. Enclose at the top (which will make peeking inside to check the temperature easier) and secure in a zipped bag to prevent leaking into the rest of your pack. Your foil packet will be ready to put into the embers or on a hot stone at your campsite, and your warm chicken and crisp vegetables should be ready in 15 to 20 minutes (longer if frozen).

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Adding a grain, like cooked brown rice or quinoa (cooked in broth and lots of fresh herbs for additional flavor and nutrition), or sweet potatoes (which I prefer over white for nutritional content) will add bulk and much-needed carbohydrates to your meal. Have another foil packet with your favorite grain or sweet potatoes (rub the foil with olive oil to prevent sticking), or just mix the cooked grain together with your meat and vegetable selection above for a one-foil meal.

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Ever had a steak cooked over a piece of limestone? You will not forget it.

Simply marinade a very cold (or better yet, partially frozen and grass-fed) steak with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper, perhaps a squeeze of lime or Worcestershire sauce, and a drizzle of olive oil and secure it in a zippered plastic bag.

Look for a flat and fairly thin piece of limestone at your camp, clean it well, and a natural cook surface is yours for the taking. I like to get the limestone warm by putting it over the coals for 10-15 minutes before putting the steak on it, naturally disinfecting the cook surface and getting the meat cooking. Couple your meat with lots of foil-wrapped vegetables, a cooked grain or sweet potatoes, and you will have quite a gourmet meal.

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The nutritional value of beans is a godsend; beans cooked with vegetables of your choice, rice or other grains are easy to prepare and equally easy to wrap in foil and warm in the fire.

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Want a warming dessert? Apple and pear wedges sprinkled with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup can be added to butter-rubbed foil for a deliciously aromatic, warming and fruity end to your campfire meal.

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Even if I have foil-wrapped meals, I almost always take a Jetboil stove for quickly and easily boiling water for tea, hot chocolate or coffee, or otherwise for re-hydrating dehydrated meals.

Flavor is always key, and there are some wonderfully innovative tools to help in this regard. I often use GSI Outdoors’ condiment packs for hot sauce, mustard or olive oil, any of which can add a boost to campfire meals, as can dry spices and herbs. I keep them in GSI Outdoors’ “Spice Missile,” which holds three different spices.

It’s amazing how a warm drink on a cold evening or morning around the campfire can satisfy my belly, so I always have my insulated mug handy, and this helps with hydration. (A warm drink is more soothing at these times than cold water.) My GSI Outdoors Commuter Java Press is a brilliant mini-java press that I use for coffee and loose-leaf teas. Small delights can greatly improve the quality of your outdoor life!

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If you’d like to add even greater versatility to your outdoor meals, there are extremely innovative and lightweight cooking tools that can assist in expanding your options dramatically. For instance, I have the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Dualist system that measures 6.5 inches around and less than 6 inches tall and is extremely easy to pack. (Assuming you have a sleeping bag compartment at the bottom of your pack, your next layer of packing should include your cookware tucked away with your water filter and other items you will not need until reaching camp).

The Dualist contains a pot with a folding handle, and two each of bowls, cups and sporks (a combination spoon and fork). The welded stuff sack it comes in conveniently holds everything and can later be used as a mini wash basin. (GSI Outdoors also sells the smaller Soloist.)

Canned goods are heavy and impractical to carry, and dried packaged goods are generally full of things I don’t believe are food, so I like to cook my own beans and dehydrate them. They can then be easily re-hydrated together with fresh chopped vegetables and packaged securely in a zippered bag, along with dry quinoa or couscous (which will cook more quickly than rice) and a vegetable bouillon cube for a hearty and delicious stew at camp.

Use small plastic bottles or the condiment packs to add sauces and spices to your taste. Alternatively, the next time you cook a large batch of chili or gumbo, dehydrate the excess that can then be re-hydrated for another meal at camp.

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As for breakfast, I think that starting the day before physical activity is best served with some wholesome calories.

While commercially available packets of oatmeal are convenient and tasty, they are generally loaded with sugars. Look for varieties that use heartier grains that are more nutritious than quick-cooking oats.

I often make a big batch of cereal using quinoa and steel-cut oats, add my own sugar, fruit and nuts and then dehydrate it and keep it in plastic bags so it is ready to go for a morning by the campfire.

Those little brown packets will lose their appeal fast when you become accustomed to breakfast cereal tailored to your tastes! If you would simply prefer not to eat first thing in the morning or just aren’t hungry, that’s OK, too.

Have some fluid, and most likely, you will find yourself looking for some food early in your hike, at which time you can eat a larger snack.

Experiment and see what works for you.

As we should try to limit our intake of packaged foods that are high in sugars, salt and unknown ingredients, we should equally limit our intake of these foods in the outdoors.

We are indeed what we eat, and we can more easily propel ourselves to better health and performance by improving the quality of our diets — on and off the trail.

At a glance

Daniela Liscio is a lawyer turned health coach, and has made the Ozarks her home after practicing law for 10 years in Toronto and New York City. She is an outdoor and sports enthusiast, a Level 1 certified hiking guide, and the founder of Eat for Sport LLC. More helpful tips for the amateur athlete are at eatforsport.com and its accompanying Facebook page.

More online

Find a link in this story online to Part 1 of “Eating healthy on the trail.”